Wednesday, July 25, 2012

DIY Navajo Rug

I am loving the Navajo rugs being used in design lately, but hating the $$$ price tag! With all the flatweave rug makeovers I have seen, I decided to give it a try.

This rug was my inspiration. I found it on a blog awhile back and can't find it again to reference. Good thing I saved it to my desktop! It was actually in a little mini doll house the blogger made. Isn't it adorable?

First, I painted a border using painter's tape. The tape doesn't stick very well to the carpet, but don't worry. Just make sure you brush down and away from the edge of the tape horizontally. If you brush towards the tape, you will push the paint underneath it.

I also used my trusty watercolor brush to apply the paint, which made it easier.

Originally, I made my design with freezer paper and ironed it on. FAIL, do not do this! The freezer paper sticks to the carpet and was a pain to get off. It was probably due to the heat from the iron since my carpet was synthetic. Wish I would have thought of that beforehand...

Round 2, I used the shape I had made with the freezer paper and followed the edges with painter's tape. This result was much better.

I continued the process with different shapes and designs using my tape and paint. My paint colors were Gold from Martha Stewart's Precious Metals line and Benjamin Moore's Tangerine Dream.

Because the rug was going in my craft room under my roller chair, I didn't mind that my paint would dry hard and I wanted the project to be inexpensive as possible. If you want the rug to remain soft, you'll definitely want to use fabric paint or add paint medium to your normal paint, which you can get at most craft stores.